Kurdish Politician: March 10 Agreement rekindles hope for Syrian unity

More than fourteen years after the outbreak of the Syrian uprising, and nearly ten months since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the country remains mired in deep divisions and entangled wars, alongside suffocating economic crises and the collapse of social structures. Meanwhile, local and international powers compete to impose conflicting visions on Syria’s future.

In this context, the PYD representative in Damascus, Mohammed Amin Aliko, told ANHA Agency that the moment voices rang out in 2011 with the chant “ The Syrian People Are One” was “a national heartbeat and a message of defiance to a regime that had fed division for decades.”

Aliko stressed that the phrase was not merely a slogan, but rather “a collective dream of a new Syria: free, just, and united.” However, the course of events has turned it into “a memory we recall with sorrow, or a dream we fear losing amid so much pain.”

He pointed to several factors that deepened divisions: “the regime’s deliberate policies of sowing discord to weaken internal unity,” “regional and international interventions that inflamed disputes,” “the war and displacement that created psychological and geographical distances among Syrians,” and “the absence of a unifying national discourse.”

Despite this reality, Aliko stressed that “the flame is still alive” in “the stories of refugees, civil initiatives, songs, artworks, writings, and in the eyes of children who have known Syria only as a tale.” He underlined that the slogan “The Syrian People Are One” still “awaits those who can revive it.”

Aliko described the March 10 agreement between the SDF and Damascus as “a step to restore the Syrian spirit” and “evidence that Syrians, regardless of their positions and affiliations, are capable of sitting together and building new bridges of trust away from foreign dictates.”

He viewed the agreement as “a seed of hope that could grow into a comprehensive national project to revive the spirit of ‘The Syrian People Are One’.”

According to him, five key tracks are necessary to achieve this:

-          Acknowledging realities and divisions and addressing them through dialogue, not accusations of betrayal;

-          Formulating a unifying national discourse that transcends parties and sects and speaks first to the human being;

-          Strengthening cultural, educational, and media initiatives that instill values of citizenship, diversity, and coexistence;

-          Building trust through daily encounters and civic engagement; and involving the new generation in shaping the dream of a Syria that embraces everyone.

Aliko, concluded that realizing this aspiration is not far-fetched: “The chant was not a passing slogan, but the truest words spoken by Syrians in a moment of freedom, it must be transformed into a comprehensive political and national project.”

a.k

ANHA